Across the Chasm
by the time and effort
Summary: AU. Percy and Jason in the final battle against Gaia close the doors of death with Percy inside, but where Percy lands is far stranger than Tartarus. Outside of the universe Percy meets the father of all creation and discover the true meaning of Chaos.
1. Chapter 1

**Some of you may recognize this from another one of my stories, but I have decided to make this a full story. Also, I feel I should let everyone know that this story in no way relates to the other short story I posted this first chapter with. **__**In this story I use characters and reference plot points from **_**Percy Jackson and the Olympians**_** and **_**The Hero's of Olympus **_**series. I do not ownany of those plot points or characters. **

Chapter 1

As he stepped towards the door the chaos around him seemed to be muted. The battle raged around him but with his new purpose Percy tuned out his surroundings. He quickened his pace to a full charge back to the pits of Tartarus from which he had only just escaped.

The others noticed. Annabeth screamed, and Jason ran after him. They couldn't stop him. Jason must have seen it and Annabeth probably refused to believe it, but there was only one way to end this. With the giants nearly defeated it was time to close the doors of death, and seal away the endless horde of monsters.

Percy slipped through the doors while exerting all of his god like strength to pull them shut. When he turned he saw Jason pushing with all the power of the sky to try and seal the Doors of Death once more. Even with their combined strength the doors barely moved an inch.

Percy knew if this took too long the monsters looking to escape Tartarus would destroy him and the doors would never be closed. He yanked and he pulled with all the power of the gods, but still the doors refused to move. With his desperation mounting he glanced around to his friends.

Frank the elephant was warding off attackers while making sure Piper and Annabeth didn't interfere with Percy or Jason. Meanwhile Leo and Nico fought harmoniously bringing a terrifying storm of fire and death to the battle ground. Hazel on the other hand was barely seen, but the chaos she and her wild horse brought was unmistakable. Then he looked at Jason.

Sweat ran down his face as he pushed desperately against the unmovable doors. And in his eyes was something that had never been there before. Fear. The mask of control that the praetor of Camp Jupiter wore had been broken. He was scared in the most primordial and desperate way.

If all the strength of the gods couldn't save them then all hope was lost. But Percy refused this notion.

There had to be some force in this world that could seal this gate way forever. He just had to find it. He put all his might in to the door releasing his grip on reality. And the doors moved. He pulled again putting even more in to it and the doors closed further.

Percy didn't know how but he was it. He was doing the impossible. But the more he pulled the stranger he began to feel. He felt distant from himself. As if the more he pulled the farther he slipped in to a place where his consciousness didn't dare follow. But it would have to follow if the doors were to close all the way.

With this realization he looked to his girlfriend. Annabeth. They hadn't been dating for a whole year yet, but to see the look in her eyes as her love smiled wanly to her would break the heart of the strongest of men. Tears fell from her cheeks as she watched her boyfriend make the final plunge in to darkness with a slam of the Doors of Death.

…and when Percy finally found consciousness the world surrounding him was nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Percy wasn't falling but there was no ground beneath his feet. The frightening lack of light was only eclipsed by equivalent lack of light, and though there was nothing in sight Percy could feel everything he had ever known surrounding him just waiting to be. What was this?

He tried to remember. Before this he had been about to trap himself in Tartarus to save his the world he knew. Was that was this was? Could Tartarus be nothing more than a blank expanses of inexistence? No Tartarus was the terrifying hell from which monsters were born. Surely he would be able to see these monsters.

Suddenly as he thought of all the unformed monsters in Tartarus they appeared! By instinct Percy reached for his pocket for his sword, but came up empty handed. The monsters, however, remained motionless. They were there, but their expressions were blank. Monsters enough to fill a coliseum sat as lifeless husks. Percy then was one begin to move out of the corner of his eye. Percy turned to face it, but even before he could pick out which one it had been it was gone.

Tensed for action Percy waited his overactive mind working out means for escape. The issue was that since there was nothing here but dormant monsters Percy had no way of running or even moving from the spot where he floated. He tried flailing and kicking trying to swim his way out but to no avail. It was as if he now existed in the frictionless vacuum his physics class always talked about.

Frustrated he flailed still more viciously wishing these monsters would just disappear. And they did. Again he was alone in an eternal void. Was this world influenced by his thoughts? So he thought. "Take me to my friends. Take me to Annabeth. Show her to me!"

Nothing.

What was it then? Percy's mind raced. Thinking had never been his strong suit, but there had to be something. There must be some way to escape the apparently desolate but impossibly dense void. His overactive mind reached for anything and when it found no probable explanation it reached for everything. His imagination raced through all his memories and experiences drawing insane conclusions. Magic and gods didn't give any course of action to take his enemies couldn't have done this.

Percy thought through every legend and story he could remember but there was nothing until he tried to recall old legends of the now faded god of the wild. As soon as he thought of Pan Percy found his feet planted a ground that hadn't been there before. Now standing in the densest and most wild forest Percy had ever dared imagine and the lost god sat in a tree playing a set of reed pipes too some of the most bizarre creatures to ever roam the earth.

"Pan!?" Percy called up to the tree not yet daring to move for fear of tripping over the roots and brush that covered the ground.

Pan looked up apparently shocked to hear his name. He cocked his head and said "Hello?"

"Umm," Percy began not sure of what to say, "I'm Percy Jackson… Grover's friend."

"I remember you," Pan said. "I transferred some of my essence to you as I faded. How can you be here?"

"I don't even know where here is," Percy said all the more confused now about how Pan could be here since he remembers the time in the labyrinth where he faded from existence.

"Neither do I," Pan said. "But as far as I can tell in this world there is no way to contact anyone from the mortal world."

"But then how can I talk to you?" Percy asked. "And how are we in a forest? And how are these creatures here?"

"We are all a part of this world now I suppose," Pan replied. "As for the forest, it is all a construct of my imagination. It's a reflection of my consciousness really."

Percy tried to process this. This was a world separate from the one he knew. In this world the consciousness of a faded god could exist but his friends couldn't. But then why would he be here?

"So how were things in the mortal world?" Pan inquired. "Did the titan king overthrow Olympus?" He asked so nonchalantly. As if he didn't care and nothing that happened could impact him.

"No," Percy replied. "They were defeated. The latest issue has been the earth mother and the giants opening the doors of death."

"Huh," Pan half chuckled now apparently somewhat interested. "You're better off here then. There's no way those doors will ever close again."

"You're wrong," Percy said with his frustration with Pan's detachment seeping through. "Hera united Camp Half-Blood and Camp Jupiter and Jason and I closed the doors."

That got Pan's attention. He now looked at me with an interest that relit the wild eyes Percy had glimpsed just before Pan faded. "Then you didn't fade from the world. You left."

"What?" I was now more confused than ever, and I knew a thing or two about being confused. I began to feel rushed. The forest surrounding them seemed to be growing more active and full with each passing moment.

"All things are born of Chaos and to him all things return, but you didn't fall back into the void. You jumped! Are jumping across the chasm!"

"Chaos?" my head began to swim as I now imagined seeing and hearing and feeling impossible things.

"Yes Percy," said a figure now fading in to existence before him. "Just a little further and I'll explain everything."

I could hardly bear it anymore. It felt like I was experiencing everything all at once. My heart soared as I fell in love, but fell as it broke. I felt all of the pain and fear of death and at the same time I felt the awakening and wonder of being born, and all this was pulling at my very soul so greatly I could hardly be aware of my own screams.

"You can make it Percy," said the figure. "You have to stretch your mind body and soul, but you can survive this."

I cried and screamed now unable to tell if I was hunched over in an impossible forest or in a dark dank cave or lying in the sun or a million other things. Then I realized I had felt this before. Not this exactly,but in the river Styx I had felt my soul being torn from my body so much that I was nearly lost forever. Back then the only thing that had saved me was the memory of Annabeth. It was difficult and painful but I began to recall this and reach for another memory of my girlfriend to sew together the pieces of my now ragged soul.

I felt a hug. She had appeared was hugging me. I still felt like I was everywhere at once but I was with her first. I squeezed my eyes shut tight and hugged Annabeth to anchor myself to that point. Wherever we were, we were together, and her arms wrapped around him held him together like glue to a shattered vase. And Percy became collected and opened his eyes.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

What I found was not the warm embrace of my girlfriend, though I could still feel it. Nor did I reawaken to the sight of Pan's forest. Instead I was greeted by a warm sun and cool ocean water on my feet. I recognized this place. I was sitting on the dock of Camp Half-Blood's lake with my bare feet dangling in the cool water. The scene was overwhelmingly relaxing, and, in spite of my recent confusion and suffering, I felt my shoulders sag as I felt the worry melt away. However, I could not relax away the hyperactivity prickling my every nerve.

It's an impossible to describe feeling, but it was no longer painful. It was just like my senses were being overloaded with conflicting information. I think my ADHD was the only thing keeping my brain from tearing itself apart from trying to make sense of what I was feeling. Slowly, I grew used to the sensation. I was then able to notice the being next to me.

I'm not sure being is even really the right word for what it was. I got the distinct impression that it didn't actually have a place in the universe. The aura it gave off was unlike any god, titan, or giant I had ever encountered. The face kept shifting and changing, but the expression was always the same placid and relaxed face with eyes that seemed more distant than the faintest star in a perfectly clear night sky. It's no wonder I didn't notice it before. It sat perfectly still, and even with an ever shifting form it didn't create even the slightest ripple in the water.

In spite of everything, though, it was easy to tell that this thing, whatever it was, was immensely powerful. How, then, could I relax? Unlike any other powerful being he had ever met this thing didn't inspire any sense of fear in him. Then it took the form of his mother. This took me by surprise and it seemed to take notice.

It seemed to finally decided on a form and turned to face him as a woman with long brown hair that fell down past her shoulders and lips that were pink and slightly narrow. Her posture suggested royalty, but she wore a dark blue dress and a gray cardigan sweater that was unbuttoned. She seemed to be an impossible cross between an age-less elf from the Lord of the Rings and a comforting mother.

"Hello Perseus," she said.

"Hello," was all I could manage still in mild shock.

"I'm glad you could make it," she said still almost completely expressionless.

"Umm thanks," I said. "So, umm, who are you? And how did we get to camp?" Me and my mouth apparently can't help but ask rude questions.

She smiled for the first time since I'd seen her. "I am Chaos, creator to the universe, and we are not really at your Camp Half-Blood. I just thought the scene might help you relax and better digest the situation."

Now I was digesting. "Right," I said, "umm, so how did I get here? Or where are we if we aren't at camp?"

"Well," she began, "those are always difficult questions. We are effectively nowhere. As best as I can describe it, when you let go of all your earthly bonds to close the doors of death you "jumped" from the mortal world to here. You see, when I say "we are nowhere," what I mean is we are ascended out of the confines of your dimension. Does that make any sense?"

"No," I say without hesitation.

She sighs. "How do you feel?"

"Umm, fine I suppose," I say a little taken aback.

"Yes, now," she says, "but before you entered this world you nearly exploded, right? Why? What was that feeling? Like you could feel everything happening all at once, right?"

"Umm, yeah" I said still confused and not at all sure where this was going.

"Well it is," she said. "We are outside of time and space as you know it. Here we are able to experience everything that has or could potentially happen at the same time. So, I suppose I lied before. We aren't actually nowhere. We are everywhere. But, while we are "here" we can't interact with the mortal world."

"Why not?" I asked, afraid this meant I wouldn't be able to see my friends again.

"Well think about how you got here," Chaos said. "I just told you that you "jumped" here. You saw the consciousness of a faded god. I call it the Chasm and it completely separates us from the mortal world."

"But I thought you said you created the universe?" I said. "How can you create a world you can't touch?"

She smiled like a mother watching her child learn and grow. "I lied again. I can influence the world. I set the world in motion with my first creations and I hold the seeds of all things that may come to be in the world, but that is the extent of my influence. I can never touch or talk or connect with the world in anyway."

"Is that why you're so distant?" I asked. "You're everywhere at once, but you aren't with anyone." I suddenly felt are of her loneliness in an eternity without any kind of connection with anyone.

She smiled again, but in this smile there was so much more sadness. "I can only watch the story of history, and it's always so sad." She then took on a look of seriousness. "I have a choice to offer you."

This filled me with dread. Never have I had an experience where a god gave an easy or good choice. "What sort of choice?"

"You may stay here and rule as chaos, or you may attempt to journey home. Be warned, you are not the first to attempt this journey. Very few are successful and even few can adapt to the world with all that you have experienced."

"I can go home?" I asked now filled with hope not even slightly concerned with her final sentence.

"Yes." she said with what appeared to be a hint of sadness. "But you may be driven insane on the way, and if you do not go mad on the way the slowly the future and the past will collide inside your brain until you can no longer tell what is real and what isn't. If you choose to stay, however, I will give you my power as Chaos and go to the mortal."

"Why would you give me your power?" I asked.

She smiled at me again. So sad and lonely was her gaze that I understood before she could say a word. "So I can be free of it and roam the earth in search of meaning each of you mortals seem to find in your lives."

Guilt spread through me like it did the last time I had abandon a girl in isolation. I never found out if the gods had kept their promise to free Calypso. I wasn't sure I was prepared to put another person through such loneliness again, but could I really leave Annabeth?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

I sat there picking through all the future's that could come to pass. I could see how such a thing could drive someone insane. One decision held so much potential, and yet it was now my decision to make. It seemed easy before when everything seemed to be happening but none of it could touch me, but now it was like sitting in detention with the teacher physically beating me with the failure I was surely going to be.

Everything I could imagine for the future inevitably ended in sadness or disaster. All this fear a worry weren't helping me. So what if Chaos was lonely? That wasn't my fault, and she's the most powerful thing in or out of existence. Besides she had said others had come before him so that means more will probably come and then they can free her. I'm not cut out to be the creator of everything anyway.

But am I really so cruel as to leave others with the same sadness she has now?

"You know," Chaos began, "I wasn't always Chaos."

That struck me in the chest. "What?!" How could someone or something so timeless not be the original?

She turned to me grinning. "I was once a mortal," she said. "The one before me wasn't the original either. I don't know how many have come before, but we've all experienced every timeline to the end and back and grown so tired that even oblivion sounded so restful."

This was bewildering news. "The Chaos before you, he told you about the loneliness didn't he? You knew what you were in for right?"

"Yes, he told me, but how could I really know?" she said. "I'd felt it as you feel it now but I couldn't imagine it was any worse than my mortal life feeling like there was no place I belonged. You see, many who come here do so because they feel they have no place in the world and give up. Once they're here though the begin to see how greatly they impacted the lives of those around them and return home."

"But you didn't feel that way?" I asked with an ever growing sense of dread.

"I couldn't see myself making any life I touched better," she said.

"But-," I fumbled with the foreign concept, "there had to be someone." Having had the weight of the world on my shoulders for so long now I couldn't imagine any part of that world might not be important. Even before camp I at least had my mother and though I knew I made things difficult for her at times I couldn't imagine ever giving her up.

"If there was I don't remember them," she said.

"So," I began, hating the thought leaving her with no place in the world, "where would you go if you went back?"

"I don't belong in my old life anymore," she said thoughtfully. "Perhaps I would take your place."

I laughed out loud and Chaos almost looked startled. "You would fit in great with my friends." Then I sat silent for a moment. It seemed that I really would be saving her by staying, but I still couldn't bring myself to abandon Annabeth. "Could I say goodbye?"

Chaos looked at me with a sparkle in her eyes that I recognize all too well having once been the keeper of hope. "Yes." She said. "Going back will strain you and the longer you are there the more frayed your mind will become, but as long as it is intact your instinct should tell you how to make the jump back."

"Then it's decided" I said as I rose to my feet. I looked Chaos in the eyes, "I promise I won't abandon you." I said it with conviction though I couldn't be so sure when the time came to face my friends.

We both shared a smile full of hope and faith before I felt it all fade knowing that if I returned to this place I would be watching over my friends instead of leaving them.


End file.
